peters



UNITED STATES PATENT OFIOE.

JOHN MAXWELL, OF GALESV ILLE, NEWv YORK.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,637, dated March 29, 1853.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN MAXWELL, of Galesville, Tashington county, State of New York, have invented new and important Mechanical Movements in the Construction of vKnitting-Looms; and I declare the follow- In Fig. l A A A A represents the standl or frame of the loom; which is in its general arrangements similar to the ordinary knitting looms as now used in factories.

' B, B is the frame (commonly called the comb-bar), that carries the jacks O, O, and the jack sinkers; D, D, the bar (called the lead sinkers bar,) that carries the lead sinkers; E the lead; G the jack and lead sink ers alternating with each other. The bar D, D, is attached at each end to the arms J, J, by which it is connected with the sinker levers K above, and throw-out bars L below.

M is the needle bar; N the needles, lying horizontally between M and a smaller upper bar O, called the falling bar, upon which the jacks rest.

P is the locking bar; R the thread carrier; H the presser attached to the lever S, S, by which it is raised off and lowered upon the needles. The levers K and S, and the throwout bar L are operated by cams attached-to the side faces of the wheels IV, IN, the wheels themselves being operated directly from the prime movers of the factory; T, T, standards on which K and S are pivoted; U, U, upright arms from the back ends of K and S with rollers in their lower extremities to receive the impulse of the cams on the wheels; X X springs attached to the different levers to maintain them in place, except when moved by the cams; la, 7e, an upright gallows frame attached to the comb-bar B. On the back of its upper limb is a bar m of wood or other material from which depend a set of small springs s, s, s, which press against the tail ends of the jacks to keep them steady when freed from the pressure of the bar P.

t is a trip or upright knob called the slursteeple attached to a sliding carriage Y, called the slur, which lies within the frame B, and which can be moved backward and forward under the jacks to force their back ends upward during certain parts of the knitting process. The carriage Y slides upon a slender vertical bar or rod s, called the slur bar, lying within the sides of the frame B, as shown in the drawing at Fig. l.

My improved movements have reference firstto the arrangements of the spring locking apparatus or that by which the motion of the bar P is duly regulated in reference to the jacks C, C, so as to hold them down, one end of them lying under the bar D and the other under bar P during certain parts of the knitting operation.

It must be noted that in the ordinary knitting loom, the comb-bar B, B, has a small horizontal motion back and forth, in order to carry the sinkers along the needles N in making the stitch, which motion is given by the levers L, which being forced in and out by the cams a on the wheels IV, vibrate the arms J and through the connection of the half jacks (so called) b, Z), which are pivoted to cheeks c, c, on the comb-bar B and to bar Dat the points CZ, CZ, give a slight reciprocating motion to the frame.

My locking apparatus, consists in the erection of two standards e, e, upon the back ends of the half jacks b, Z), these standards rising high enough to carry between their upper bent ends, and the bar P, springs f, j', strong enough to keep the bar firmly down upon the tail-ends of the jacks. Through the springs, rods pass riveted to the bar, and passing through orifices in the upper ends of the standards, in order to steady the motions of the bar P. This placing of the standards upon the half jacks is important inasmuch as it preserves the equidistance between the locking bar and the sinker bar during the evolutions of the machine. The pressure of the bar P upon the sinker bar is released at the proper time by the operation of the cams g upon the levers Y. (In the drawing it being impossible to show the cam near the front wheel, or the lever on which the cam near the back wheel acts, it will be understood that the front wheel has behind it on its axis a cam like g, and that the cam g operates upon a lever like Y.)

The lever Y is pivoted 4at p, so that when its back end is depressed, the front end rises against a vertical rod it which is screwed into the end of P, and thus raises the bar. The height to which P is to be raised is adjusted by screwing the rod up or down through P, which permits the end of Y to make a greater or less sweep before it touches and lifts L.

The employment of the springsf, f, is of great service in a case of any derangement to t-he machinery, by which the Steeple-slur (hereafter referred' to) should be left under the jacks instead of passing entirely through its whole course; the elasticity of the springs preventing injury to the machine, by relieving the jacks from the pressure of the locking-bar.

Fig. 2 shows an elevation of so much of the back view of the machinery as, in connection with Fig. l, will exhibit these movement-s. 7c, f, shows the gallows frame with its springs s, s, s. The slur steeple as it lies behind the plate C2 cannot be shown, but the sliding carriage to which it is attached Y, has ears which are seen at ci, v, on this side of the slur bar on which it slides. There are corresponding ears on the other side of the bar and a pin passes through the opposite ears. The thread carrier R is attached at its bottom to a sliding bar w, which runs on the pins that pass through the said ears, by means of a slot in the bar, shown by a dark shading in the drawing. In the ordinary machines the driving backward and forward of this bar is done by a complicated gearing. My method of doing it is as follows: A wheel A2 is placed under the bar w coincident in its plane of motion. Straps 3, 3, on its periphery (crossing each other) are attached to the ends of the bar w, so that when the wheel makes a partial revolution to the right or left, the straps operating tan* gentially give an easy vibration to the bar. On the axis of this wheel are fixed cams t, 4, opposite to each other, and similar in form. Opposite or nearly opposite the center of this Wheel A2 a horizontal shaft B2, parallel with the shaft of the wheels W, carries a wheel Z, which gears in a pinion O of onefourth its diameter placed o-n the shaft of wheels W, so that one revolution of the said Wheels W shall produce one-quarter revolution of Z and its shaft. On shaft B2 are iixed four arms 5, 6, 7 8 5 and 6 being in line with each other, and 7 and 8 being also in a line with each other, but at right angles with 5 and 6. These arms are arranged to touch the cani 4, 4, yas they pass around and thereby turn the wheel A2 suiiiciently to move t-he sliding bar w the proper distancefor its due operation. It is manifest that as these arms reach the cams in succession they will throw the wheel alternately to the right and left hand at each revolution of the wheels W, to which wheels are affixed the cams which operate all the other movements of the loom, and give to each part its due motion. This is shown in Fig. l where on the wheels W, W the cams are shown as operating against arms having a roller set in the impinging arms thereof, the roller being kept with a due pressure against the cams by the springs X, X, which are seen in connection with the arms.

In the movement of the ordinary knitting looms, in order to bring the cloth over the new made stitch, the sinkers are brought forward together, and this bringing forward is done in `two motions, by the irst of which the cloth is carried to the edge of the needles, and by the second is carried over the needles. These two motions are eifected by two steps in the cam a very close to each other, with a depression between them so that the lever L is shifted back andv forth with a sudden jerk so violent as to require levers, arms, &c., of great strength to endure the Work, and thereby limits materially the speed of the machine.

The movement in my looms is done by a single step or rise in the cam, as shown in the drawing on wheel W, (Fig. 1,) where the cam is represented in the act of making the throw out motion.

I claim- The construction of the locking apparatus, by placing standards upon the back ends of the half-jacks to carry springs which regulate the pressure of the bar upon the jacks, in combination with an apparatus for raising said locking bar, the whole constructed and arranged for the purpose and in the manner substantially as set forth in the within specification.

JOHN MAXWELL.

Witnesses J. VAN SAULwooD, WM. J. RHEES. 

